Financial Delegations

1. Introduction

Financial delegations detail the level of authorisation required for incurring non-salary expenditure. The purpose of financial delegations is to ensure that staff are provided with the level of authority necessary to discharge their financial responsibilities. The underlying principle of financial delegations is that the individual authorising the expenditure will ensure that all policies and procedures are followed, expenditure is on University business and that funds are available before any invoices are approved for payment. Authorisation is required against all sources of funds including Professional Pursuits Accounts and Research Grants

2. Overview

A delegation of authority is allocated to a position, not to the individual in that position.

The University Senate approves financial delegations and no officer is otherwise authorised to transfer all or part of her/his position’s delegation to another position.

Expenditure incurred by a staff member must be approved by a supervisor with delegated authority. Staff cannot authorise their own expenditure. Authorisation of certain expenditure may be effected by confirming expenditure details with the supervisor by email. If an officer is unable to obtain approval from a supervisor with delegated authority and urgent approval is required, a request for approval should be forwarded to the Chief Financial Officer.

Expenditure by an individual from Research Funds requires approval of the supervisor with delegated authority. If the principal researcher is the person incurring the expense, the academic supervisor with delegated authority must approve the expenditure. However, responsibility lies with the researcher to certify that funds are available and expenditure does not contravene the terms and conditions of the Research Grant.

An individual acting in the position of a delegated officer may exercise all of the delegated authority attached to that position unless otherwise stipulated.

The specified limit on a delegation of authority applies to a transaction or commitment as a whole (exclusive of GST), that is, it cannot be divided into segments or parts.

Requests for amendments to the Financial Delegations should be sent to the Chief Financial Officer who is responsible for examining the proposals, and if deemed appropriate, recommending changes to Senate. Any queries on the Financial Delegations should be addressed to the Associate Director – Financial Operations on ext. 2907.